The Timor nightjar is a species of nightjar in the family Caprimulgidae. It is found in Southeast Asia on the islands of Timor, Rote and Wetar in the Lesser Sunda Islands.
Region
Lesser Sunda Islands
Typical Environment
Occurs on Timor, Rote, and Wetar, favoring open and semi-open habitats. It uses dry monsoon woodland, savanna, scrub, forest edges, and secondary growth. The species often forages along clearings, tracks, and lightly wooded farmland mosaics. By day it roosts on leaf litter or bare ground where its mottled plumage blends with surroundings. It avoids dense closed-canopy forest but uses nearby edges and gaps.
Altitude Range
0–1500 m
Climate Zone
Tropical
Ease of Keeping
Beginner friendly: 1/5
A nocturnal insect-hawker, the Timor nightjar spends daylight hours motionless on the ground or low branches, relying on superb camouflage. At dusk it becomes active, sallying out to catch moths and beetles with a wide, bristled gape. Males show small white wing patches in display flights. Its eyeshine is often detected in headlights along quiet roads.
Temperament
solitary and territorial
Flight Pattern
buoyant with short rapid wingbeats and brief glides
Social Behavior
Typically solitary outside the breeding pair. Nests are a simple ground scrape with a single well-camouflaged egg placed on bare earth or leaf litter. Adults rely on stillness and camouflage to avoid detection and will perform distraction displays if approached.
Migratory Pattern
Resident
Song Description
Calls are given at dusk and night: a repetitive churring trill interspersed with sharp tchik notes. Males often sing from low perches or during display flights over open areas.
Plumage
Cryptic mottled grey-brown and buff with fine streaking and barring, well-suited to leaf-litter camouflage.
Diet
Feeds almost exclusively on flying insects such as moths, beetles, termites, and small orthopterans. It uses aerial sallies to snatch prey, guided by large eyes and bristle-fringed gape. Around villages and roads it takes advantage of insects attracted to lights. Foraging height is typically low, just above ground or vegetation.
Preferred Environment
Hunts along edges of woodland, savanna, scrub, and open fields, as well as roads and clearings. Also forages over dry riverbeds and around water sources where insects congregate.
